


Spelunking

by franscats



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 03:02:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2175633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/franscats/pseuds/franscats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the whole dissertation mess, Blair accepts the offer of a badge, but before starting he visits some friends in Colorado.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spelunking

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Note: I have never done any cave exploration, but I recently heard an explorer describe both the sensory deprivation and the sensory overload that cave explorers experience. It gave me the idea for this piece.

Spelunking

Jim looked out across the water as the ferry boat moved toward the shore. It was a sunny day, a rare thing for Cascade Jim and Blair had taken a short ferry over to one of the small islands that dotted the Pacific coast, spending the day hiking and relaxing. Now, they were returning home with plans to go out for dinner.

Glancing over at Blair, Jim noticed how the late afternoon sun created a halo of colors on Blair’s head and he smiled thinking Blair resembled an angel, not that he would ever tell Blair that. “How about dinner at the small dockside restaurant? It’s still warm enough and early enough to enjoy sitting outside and eating.”

“Sounds good,” Blair agreed and the pair waited until the ferry docked before moving to the small restaurant, taking seats outside and ordering beers and dinner.

They were sipping their cold brews and watching the ferry move back to the small island, its last trip of the day, when the food arrived. Blair and Jim had ordered paella for two and dug into the food for a while before sitting back and enjoying the sunset as the ferry came back to port and locked down for the night.

“So,” Jim said, thinking the ferry was like Blair, gently sailing off. “You’ll leave tomorrow?” He just hoped, like the ferry, Blair would soon sail back. 

Blair nodded. After the whole dissertation mess, he had accepted the offer of a badge and would be starting the academy in six weeks. But he had decided, before starting, he would leave for a brief vacation to visit some friends in Colorado. 

“I’ll be back before the academy starts,” he said. They had talked about Blair’s upcoming trip and Blair had made a point of stating that, one he would be back, two he would go to the police academy, and three he would be Jim’s partner. “I’m not leaving you, I’m just taking a little time to find out who I am,” he told Jim when he first announced the plans. “After all that’s gone on, I need just a little down time to clear my head.”

“You can’t get that here?” Jim had asked and Blair smiled but shook his head.

“I’m going to join some friends who go exploring caves in the Colorado region. They know nothing of Cascade, dissertations, or sentinels. But I will come home,” he promised and Jim had nodded his understanding. He could tell that Blair really needed some time. Blair had been off since the dissertation mess. He had lost the bounce in his step and the smile filled with wonder that brightened the world.

By tacit agreement, they had cleared the last day to spend together and opted on the hiking trip, enjoying quiet time together. Finishing the dinner, Jim handed over his credit card to the waitress and turned to Blair. “You need to stay out of trouble, Chief.”

For what Blair guessed was the hundredth time, he sighed. “I will Jim. And I am not leaving you. I will be back to take the PD course and become your official partner.”

Jim had smiled in answer, ruffling Blair’s hair and the two made their way home. 

The next morning, Jim drove Blair to the airport and just before Blair checked in, Jim pulled Blair close, giving him a hug while pushing something into his jacket pocket. Blair hugged Jim back and turned to go, automatically reaching in his pocket to see what Jim had placed there. Inside was a large wad of bills.

Spinning he looked at Jim in shock. “Jim there must be a thousand dollars here,” he whispered, pulling the roll of money out and staring at his friend.

“In case you need money,” Jim answered. “Take care, Blair,” he turned and started back to his truck.

Blair watched him go with a melancholy smile. He needed a bit of time away, but he would miss Jim.

Putting away the roll of money Jim had given him and hefting his back pack; Blair turned and entered the airline terminal.

***

“So Blair,” John Graham said as Blair leaned against John’s jeep staring at large crop of mountains in the distance. “You want to go spelunking.”

Blair smiled looking at his friend. John Graham was close in age to Blair, taller, with dark brown eyes, short brown hair and a not so neatly trimmed mustache. They had met years before on one of Naomi’s many travels and had kept in touch mostly by email. At some point during their long distance friendship, John had written to Blair about spelunking and how when you were down deep in the cave it was a transformative time. “Yeah, I understand that people who go down into caves have a unique experience.”

“They do,” John nodded. “But you have to understand, we are not talking about commercial caves. It’s dark, the only light will be what we bring down with us, you won’t see anything but browns and blacks and maybe a little phosphorescent white, if you’re lucky. You’ll suffer sensory deprivation just like you would in a tank. And because a lot of caves have water, the sound of water can be, almost violent. You’ll feel its vibrations. It’s not an experience for everyone. And to really experience it, you have stay down at least three days. I guarantee when you come up, you’ll see the world differently.”

“Yeah, I’m in,” Blair answered, excitedly and John looked over him thoughtfully.

“It’s dangerous. Real cave exploration is. You go in knowing you could not come out again. But I think I can give you two days down and another coming back up,” John answered. 

Blair smiled, “I’m ready.”

***

John, and three of his friends, packed for a short trip down into one of easier caves before setting off with Blair, just before dawn the next day. At the entrance, John glanced around. Sunlight was just starting to peak over the mountains and John nodded to the light. “We’re going to be in the dark for the next three days, so get your fill.”

Blair had nodded and followed John’s team into the small opening in the rock wall. 

It was damp inside and cold, and there were ropes anchored to the walls that John’s team had set on an earlier visit. But this was a gently sloping cave and the ropes were only to help steady footing on wet rocks. The team carried lights with them and had lights in their helmets as they moved deeper into the earth and Blair found himself moving slowly forward into darkness, stopping when the team did for food and breaks and stumbling along in the dark.

Finally, after hours of walking, they reached a spot where the cave seemed to end, a wall of rock before them. But then John turned and Blair following the light in John’s helmet could see he made a sharp turn around the rock wall. Following the others, Blair turned and moved into total darkness. He could hear water dripping and it seemed to echo along the walls as the team continued forward moving single file. John just in front of Blair called a halt when they reached a large cavern.

“First camp,” he called and in the bobbing lights of the helmets and lanterns, he found himself dropping his pack and sitting down, feeling a damp wall behind him and uncomfortably hard seat beneath him. As he sat, John came over and handed him a bottle of water and a sandwich.

“We’ll stay the night here and then move down to where there’s a small underground lake. It is an amazing sight.”

“How can you tell when it’s morning?” Blair asked and John laughed holding up his arm. Blair hadn’t noticed that John wore a watch that kept military time. 

“You can lose track of time very easily here,” he admitted. “Tomorrow we’ll get to the lake and then start back up. We’ll stop again here tomorrow night and then the next morning, we’ll head out.”

Blair nodded taking a bite of his sandwich, listening to the drip of water and the echo of people moving around the cave.

***

The next night Blair found himself sitting in about the same location as the night before, another sandwich in his hands, thinking over his visit to the underground lake. It had been amazing: quiet, dark, and serene. It was like no place he had been before and Blair kept silent, unwilling to have his voice intrude on the solitude of the place. Blair had set off that morning and followed John’s team down to the lake and then they had all held up lanterns so that Blair could look at the large dark lake surrounded by stalagmites and stalactites. Standing at the edge of the still water, he could hear water dripping from the cave roof and the water seemed to boom in the room like a heartbeat. Blair could almost feel the beat and he wondered if this was how Jim, as a sentinel, heard heartbeats. Before leaving to go back up, John had insisted that Blair taste the cold water and he was amazed at how cold and clear it was and he found himself wishing Jim could taste the water and give a sentinel’s opinion of it.

They had then set off to return back up the trail, John explaining that this was only one of many passages in the cave and that the team was still exploring other areas. At the stopping point, John had given him a sandwich and then left Blair to his own thoughts, going off to sit with his team. Tomorrow, John would lead Blair back to the world above.

Blair spent part of the night staring into the darkness. There was nothing to see and only the soft murmurs and quiet breathing of John’s team and the drip of water as he sat in the darkness. He recognized that the environment here was the opposite of what Jim experienced and he wondered what the sentinel would make of such an experience. John had deliberately left him alone this night so he could process the journey and Blair was grateful for the time alone as he stared out into the darkness, thinking about his future.

At some point, he slept and in the morning, headed up to the surface with John. As they neared the surface, John stopped the team and came near Blair. “There’s something you have to know. After three days in a cave, when you first exit, it’s like coming out of a sensory deprivation environment and your senses will overload. Hearing, sight and smell are going to go off the charts, but don’t worry. It only lasts about fifteen or twenty minutes. Colors are going to appear vibrant, almost blinding, sounds will be incredibly loud and you’ll be amazed at what you can smell. Don’t freak, it will settle. “

Blair looked at John amazed. It would be like experiencing what Jim sensed. Nodding, he eagerly moved forward, and an hour later he stepped out into the late afternoon sun.

The sun was low and weak but Blair found himself blinking back tears because of the light’s intensity as he looked around in awe at the colors of the rocks before him. He ignored the discomfort, refusing to close his eyes and listened in surprise as the sound of an insect buzzing seemed as loud as a chain saw. He could smell the dank earth in the cave and he found himself wishing his sense of touch and taste had been deprived as well. 

He knew to a degree he was experiencing what Jim went through every day. No wonder a sentinel needed a guide. Handling this level of input was hard. Blair was enjoying the experience, but it would be short lived, else it would be a burden. He wouldn’t need to put up with the sensitivity 24/7. Slowly, his eyes, ears and nose acclimated and he turned to John, gratitude clear. “This was amazing and I can’t thank you enough for sharing it with me.”

“Blair, you came here looking for a unique experience, I hope you found it.”

Blair nodded. “It was unique and more. I think I found some answers about myself here and who I am.”

John nodded. “I’m glad. So, what do you want to do next?”

Blair looked at the cave and then at the dim sunlight. “I’m going to cut this trip short. I found what I needed. I’m going to go home.”

John shrugged as they piled their equipment into a car. “I’ll take you to my place tonight and tomorrow you can make whatever arrangements you need.”

“Thanks John. I won’t forget this.”

***

Jim stood on the balcony, watching the bay. In the distance he could see the ferry rolling off and he wondered where Blair was and what he was doing. Blair had said he would come back and start the academy and Jim believed he would but he wondered if Blair was slowly drifting away. Blair had left five days ago and he hadn’t called since.

Jim turned at the sound of the phone ringing and picked it up.

“Ellison,” he announced.

“Hi Jim,” Blair’s voice sounded like a smile and Jim couldn’t help but smile in turn.

“Hey, Chief, how are you doing? Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I was just wondering, would you mind if I came home a little early?”

“Of course not, this is your home. When are you coming, I’ll pick you up? ”

“Um, actually, I’m downstairs in Collette’s.”

“You’re home?” 

“I’m home but I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t interrupt anything if I came up.”

“Get up here,” Jim ordered and Blair laughed the sound light and happy, like the Blair who lived here before the dissertation disaster.

Jim moved to the door and opened it, waiting and watching as Blair came down the hall. 

“Hey Jim,” Blair greeted as Jim pulled him in for a hug before closing the door. Blair could tell the sentinel was scanning him, looking if he was alright.

“I’m fine.”

“You cut your vacation short,” Jim answered expecting an explanation and Blair turned considering him.

“I took some time to figure out who I am.”

“Who are you?” Jim asked softly.

“I’m Blair Sandburg, honored guide and shaman to a sentinel, partner to a cop, and friend to Jim Ellison the man. And that’s more than enough for me.”

End


End file.
